Greens warn of large scale paddy, wetland reclamation during election

In the past, encroachers have taken advantage of officials’ attention being diverted to the conduct of polls

Environmentalists are apprehensive that unscrupulous elements may exploit the official machinery’s preoccupation with elections to engage in rampant violation of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act.

A recent attempt to illegally fill the paddy fields at Edachira near Kakkanad is seen as an early indication of such a trend, though it was foiled after the police crime-stopper was alerted at the instance of the District Collector.

“Over the years, the election period has witnessed rampant illegal filling of paddy fields and wetlands. Police intervention is the only effective deterrent to check it,” environmental activist and lawyer Harish Vasudevan, whose social media post had alerted the district administration to the Edachira incident, told

The Hindu .

Echoing his opinion was another environmentalist, Purushan Eloor, who said that illegal filling of paddy fields and encroachments soared during elections and also during festivals such as Onam and Christmas marked by long holidays for officials. “Politicians also turn a blind eye to such violations during the election season, as the parties behind it are often people who generously contribute to election funds. Fear of losing the votes of the beneficiaries of such violations also prompt politicians to remain silent,” he said.

An effective monitoring mechanism was put in place to check such election-time violations at the initiative of R.R. Varma, former chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSSB), in the interim period after the term of the V.S. Achuthanandan-led government ended and before the Oommen Chandy-led government assumed power.

A committee was constituted to check the violations of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act following an order of the then Chief Secretary. “The committee had detected 171 such violations and around 50-odd cases were registered at its instance across the State,” recollected Mr. Vasudevan, who was a member of that committee.

The order empowered district collectors to act on the information conveyed to them by the KSBB chairman who sourced information about ecological violations with the help of volunteers such as Mr. Vasudevan from all districts.

Mr. Varma said that the vacuum in political power enabled him to get such an order from the Chief Secretary. “It was done in public interest and needed an environment free of political interference to be effective. I am not sure whether such a system is possible now unless the government takes the initiative,” he said.